hi all, new member here. very much enjoying forum so far. thought i would post a few of the things i use to practice and warm up. keep in mind that im pretty much a beginner so i doubt this will help the pros we have here Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
at my level right now i know my biggest weaknesses involves consistency with triples and doubles and knowing my outs so i don't have to stop and add in my head what i need and what i want to shoot at to get down to what i want. so with that in mind most of my drills involves one, two, or all of those.
forgive me if these have been posted already but so far ive only made it to the second page of reading.
50 out - this is a cool little drill that i use a lot for warm ups before tourneys or league matches. the premise is simple: you have 50 left and 3 darts to get an out. of course in the real world if you have 50 left and 3 darts most people will aim at 10 or 18 with two darts for the finish. but here i aim at DB and simply try to finish with the remaining darts based on what my first dart was. this way it helps me practice bull as well. this not only helps you with finishers but it also drills into my head to automatically calculate what i need on the fly. so basically it helps me to remember my outs from 50 down. as a warm up i only throw 3 darts and if i miss i start over and i usually do this about 10 times or so but i also use it as practice sometimes where i will take as many turns as i need to finish the out.
101 - this one is pretty simple. i just play 101 with myself but keep the tally in my head. this also helps with being able to calculate set ups and finishers on the fly. at my level i try to complete this in 6 darts or less.
Bobs 27 - if you haven't yet heard of this its a drill that focuses on doubles. you start out with 27 points. starting with 1 you throw all 3 darts at doubles. if you hit then you add the total of the double to your score and if you miss all 3 then you subtract that amount from your score. example would be landing one in double 1 and missing 2 = add 2 to your score. landing 2 in the double 1 = adding 4 to your score. missing all three = subtract 2 from your score. right now i am not good enough to complete a round (i usually go bust at 10-12 right now). for a really good doubles practice i throw 2 rounds or even 3 depending on how much time i have.
Denis' Triples - This one (and bobs 27) i admit i cheat a little on because i have an app on my tablet (that we use to keep score and play against a computer opponent) that has this on there. for this one you start at 10 and go to 20 aiming at triples. you get 3 points for a triple, 2 for double, and 1 for single. start at 10, throw 3 darts, calculate your score, and move to the next number. although sometimes to switch it up i would not count the singles or doubles or sometimes i will aim at the fat part of the number and not the triple (i hate few things more than aiming at a single and accidentally hitting a triple!). the app that i use for this has a feature that will save your progress so you can go back and look at it but i have always looked at it like George does, if you are trying to beat a certain number or a certain time then you are playing, not practicing!
Cricket 501 - i play this from time to time and i like to play a few practice games of this before league because we play both 01 and cricket in my league. basically you play 501 except only cricket numbers count. if you get 20-20-T5 then you only count the 40 points you got from 20s. outs are the same, only use cricket numbers. so if you get down to 30 points remaining and you hit S15 then you bust.
Step down 501 - i use a scoring app for this because i hates maths. this drill i do pretty much daily and most of the time i play two games for each number. so what i do is play a game of standard 501 but the first game i aim at 20 as my primary scoring number. the next game i use 19 as my primary scoring number, then 18, then 17. then i usually start over with 20 and repeat. obviously if i cover the treble or get down to where another number would leave me a better finish or set up then i go with it. this drill helps me with repetition of triples on the big numbers. i even use this one against a computer opponent a lot to simulate game situations.
75 set up - recently i just started doing something a little different and I'm not sure just yet on how i like it but i figured i would include it in case someone wants to take it or modify it. basically you start with 75 and if you can get out, then great. but the primary purpose is to leave yourself a great out. this is more to practice those situations where you have a point advantage on your opponent and know that most likely you will have at least 6 darts to finish. just in my small amount of time playing i have bungled this up more than just about anything else. its so irritating to be sitting at 75 and up by 100 and then completely screw up by taking risky chances and end up leaving yourself 31 or 25. so i use this to perhaps take some chances but keeping the main goal to leave myself a decent out. i started doing this after having two games in a row being up big and leaving myself 14 or 6 when it wasn't necessary.
so anyway, sorry that once again i have left a very long post if you managed to make it until the end, thanks for reading! i would love to hear from you guys who are much more seasoned than i am on whether these could made better or whether there are better options for practice. i have pretty thick skin so i don't mind criticism at all.
thanks again for reading,
Michael
at my level right now i know my biggest weaknesses involves consistency with triples and doubles and knowing my outs so i don't have to stop and add in my head what i need and what i want to shoot at to get down to what i want. so with that in mind most of my drills involves one, two, or all of those.
forgive me if these have been posted already but so far ive only made it to the second page of reading.
50 out - this is a cool little drill that i use a lot for warm ups before tourneys or league matches. the premise is simple: you have 50 left and 3 darts to get an out. of course in the real world if you have 50 left and 3 darts most people will aim at 10 or 18 with two darts for the finish. but here i aim at DB and simply try to finish with the remaining darts based on what my first dart was. this way it helps me practice bull as well. this not only helps you with finishers but it also drills into my head to automatically calculate what i need on the fly. so basically it helps me to remember my outs from 50 down. as a warm up i only throw 3 darts and if i miss i start over and i usually do this about 10 times or so but i also use it as practice sometimes where i will take as many turns as i need to finish the out.
101 - this one is pretty simple. i just play 101 with myself but keep the tally in my head. this also helps with being able to calculate set ups and finishers on the fly. at my level i try to complete this in 6 darts or less.
Bobs 27 - if you haven't yet heard of this its a drill that focuses on doubles. you start out with 27 points. starting with 1 you throw all 3 darts at doubles. if you hit then you add the total of the double to your score and if you miss all 3 then you subtract that amount from your score. example would be landing one in double 1 and missing 2 = add 2 to your score. landing 2 in the double 1 = adding 4 to your score. missing all three = subtract 2 from your score. right now i am not good enough to complete a round (i usually go bust at 10-12 right now). for a really good doubles practice i throw 2 rounds or even 3 depending on how much time i have.
Denis' Triples - This one (and bobs 27) i admit i cheat a little on because i have an app on my tablet (that we use to keep score and play against a computer opponent) that has this on there. for this one you start at 10 and go to 20 aiming at triples. you get 3 points for a triple, 2 for double, and 1 for single. start at 10, throw 3 darts, calculate your score, and move to the next number. although sometimes to switch it up i would not count the singles or doubles or sometimes i will aim at the fat part of the number and not the triple (i hate few things more than aiming at a single and accidentally hitting a triple!). the app that i use for this has a feature that will save your progress so you can go back and look at it but i have always looked at it like George does, if you are trying to beat a certain number or a certain time then you are playing, not practicing!
Cricket 501 - i play this from time to time and i like to play a few practice games of this before league because we play both 01 and cricket in my league. basically you play 501 except only cricket numbers count. if you get 20-20-T5 then you only count the 40 points you got from 20s. outs are the same, only use cricket numbers. so if you get down to 30 points remaining and you hit S15 then you bust.
Step down 501 - i use a scoring app for this because i hates maths. this drill i do pretty much daily and most of the time i play two games for each number. so what i do is play a game of standard 501 but the first game i aim at 20 as my primary scoring number. the next game i use 19 as my primary scoring number, then 18, then 17. then i usually start over with 20 and repeat. obviously if i cover the treble or get down to where another number would leave me a better finish or set up then i go with it. this drill helps me with repetition of triples on the big numbers. i even use this one against a computer opponent a lot to simulate game situations.
75 set up - recently i just started doing something a little different and I'm not sure just yet on how i like it but i figured i would include it in case someone wants to take it or modify it. basically you start with 75 and if you can get out, then great. but the primary purpose is to leave yourself a great out. this is more to practice those situations where you have a point advantage on your opponent and know that most likely you will have at least 6 darts to finish. just in my small amount of time playing i have bungled this up more than just about anything else. its so irritating to be sitting at 75 and up by 100 and then completely screw up by taking risky chances and end up leaving yourself 31 or 25. so i use this to perhaps take some chances but keeping the main goal to leave myself a decent out. i started doing this after having two games in a row being up big and leaving myself 14 or 6 when it wasn't necessary.
so anyway, sorry that once again i have left a very long post if you managed to make it until the end, thanks for reading! i would love to hear from you guys who are much more seasoned than i am on whether these could made better or whether there are better options for practice. i have pretty thick skin so i don't mind criticism at all.
thanks again for reading,
Michael
